1.Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an animation and graphic system for use in the film and television industries. More particularly, the present invention provides a device for mounting a camera be it photographic or television and an object to be filmed which permits precise, pre-programmed relative motion between the camera and the object.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Animation and graphics in the motion picture or television industry is of two general types, cell animation and graphic animation. Cell animation is the modern day equivalent of the sequential display of hand drawn pictures. Typically, in cell animation, transparent materials are used to prepare overlapping drawings so that the parts of the drawing which contribute to motion can be separated from those which do not. Only those parts of the total picture that exhibit motion need be redrawn or moved from frame to frame of the film; backgrounds are drawn once and retained throughout the sequence. Thus the moving portion is displaced within the background of the cell for each sequential frame of the film.
Graphic animation, on the other hand, does not involve redrawn pictures. The subject matter for graphic animation includes such things as photographic prints, paintings, drawings and maps. Unlike cell animation, where movement exists within the content of the cell background, graphic animation uses entirely self-contained objects of fixed content. Movement is achieved by changing the position of the object relative to the camera photographing or taping it. Thus, in both cell and graphic animation, all movement, with the exception of cell content, is accomplished by the physical manipulation of the object relative to the camera lens.
A typical application for graphic animation, as an example, is filming of a documentary involving artists' paintings. A segment of such a documentary, prepared with a graphic stand, shows the painting in full frame then zooms to move through particular areas of interest and returns to a full frame view. Smooth continuous motion, over a wide speed range and free of annoying vibration and jerky motion, is essential to an aesthetically pleasing film or tape segment.
Prior art animation and graphic systems suffer several shortcomings. In general, they are limited in their motion capabilities and in ease of operation. Prior art animation stands provide only a relatively narrow range of speed capabilities from each of the operational axes. Also, stands which are capable of revolving the photographed or taped object, typically are limited in the number of revolutions and speed range of revolution they can achieve. The most severe limitations of the prior art stands, however, appear in the execution of slow movement along one or more axes. Extremely slow speed motion capabilities are very useful for an animation stand but difficult to obtain without jerky movement or troublesome vibration. This is particularly true when the desired movement requires coordinated motion by several machine axes. Finally, the prior art animation or graphic systems often are difficult to operate because they require complex detailed operator input to instruct the machine to execute particular patterns of movement.